Upperchurch/Drombane have to be ambitious now - Dunphy

By Noel Dundon

Upperchurch/Drombane manager Liam Dunphy lauded his players after they had won the All-Ireland Club Intermediate Hurling final in Croke Park, saying that despite the setbacks they had endured against Tooreen, they carried out the gameplan to the letter, once they found their flow.

As the dressing room area reverberated to cheers and whoops of joy, the Roscrea man admitted to being very proud of the achievement of winning in Croke Park, be he also added that he was very calm throughout and pointed to there being more pressure in the Tipperary Championship than in the provincial or national campaign.

“Believe it or not I was calm throughout the whole thing,” he began.

“We got onto a good start, and I know they scored a lot of scores in a row before half-time, but we still managed to claw our way back into it.

“I had fierce trust in our hurling as the game was going on. I knew our hurling would be there at the end and equally our fitness levels. We have put an awful lot of work into the boys with James (McGrath) and the lads, and I think the hurling always stands to you at the end of a game.

“We really showed that in extra time when we managed to build a ten-point lead and to open them up at the back. I was actually calm, more so than in a lot of the games throughout the year. There is more pressure in the county championship than there was out there – you want to win it but still we had already achieved something.”

While Upperchurch/Drombane seemed to have the game sown up with their goal blitz in extra time, they suffered when Tooreen banged in two goals in a minute to cut a ten point lead right down to two points, meaning it was all hands to the pump in the dying embers of the clash.

“It was pure chaos and probably a lapse in concentration,” Dunphy admitted.

“I looked up at the scoreboard and it was a ten-point gap and I suppose we thought we had it won on the field. Earlier in the game, we probably retreated on the field and gave them space to pick off scores. It is so hard to get a message on to the field in the bigger stadiums. Here if you step in over the white line the officials are on your case.

“We had retreated too far but they were getting the ball up field, recycling it back out and getting their shooters from out the field to put it over the bar. And we just were not able to get the message on to deal with that. They have shooters – savage forwards. They have men with pace, good strikers left and right and all able to win aerial ball. They have good hurlers and we knew we were up against it.

“We probably got into a false lead at the start and maybe became a little complacent. But we knew we would have to deal with adversity throughout the game and we had spoken to the lads about that, and they dealt with it. They didn’t panic,” said Liam who added that Conor Fahey’s goals were so vital to the outcome of the game.

In relation to the panel, he said: “They are a different bunch to anything I have seen before.

“Anything we have ever asked them to do, they have done. We had plans and they carry out the plans on the field and things worked very well for us. As the year goes on, when you actually find yourself in hurling-only mode, week on week as opposed to no football, the energy levels are totally different. You have more time with the players and even on a Sunday morning when there are no football matches you can get in a do a tactical session with the lads.

“We probably played better outside of Tipp than we did in Tipp because our energy levels were better and we were able to put more time into it. We didn’t let ourselves down in Croke Park – we clocked up 4-20 and while 2-24 would be a big score for us to concede, we are out the right side of it and we move on now.

“The lads are in Dan Breen hurling this year and I think of Clara and Thomastown in Kilkenny – that’s the way the people of Upperchurch/Drombane have got to think now. They have got be ambitious.”

There was special mention for the subs who made a big impact too. Paddy Phelan defied medical science to take his place on the pitch in the second half and made an enormous contribution; Jack Butler returned from his travels to really stake a claim for game-time over the festive season; and Paul Ryan came off the bench to play his part too.

Ger Grant contributed, as did his brother Diarmuid, who returned to the play in extra time having been subbed off in the normal time. It was a huge panel effort with the injured Paudie Greene also providing inspiration as he crutched in and out of the pitch at breaks.

“It’s the stuff of dreams,” Dunphy continued.

“Anything I have ever won, including a county minor final with Roscrea a few years ago, I have worked with James McGrath including the likes of the Tony Forrestal and Arrabawn teams – he has had his own success in Kilkenny and with other teams too. We work really well together but it is not just me, it is our management team.

“We have brilliant men – McGrath is just different class, but James Greene and John Quinn are unbelievable selectors. I describe them as men who see a problem coming around the corner – the problem is dealt with before it ever comes to the table. They are so good and they are so well got in their club. They are so respected by their own people.

“Then you have the likes of Pat McLoughney helping with the goalkeeping; John Flaherty in the background as physio; we have Peter Ryan doing a bit on the psychological side of the game. We have a very very good backroom team and a lot of clubs would love to have what we have,” Liam said before heading off into the dressing room to the strains of The Hills of Knockalough being belted out by stalwart Patsy Ralph.